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What steps do I need to take to maintain/renew my conditional CTE certificate, and what is the timeline?

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I recently moved to WA and was issued an initial residency certificate, which is valid until I have 1.5 years of teaching experience in the state.

1. What's the purpose of this initial version of the residency certificate with a relatively short validity period?

2. What steps do I need to take to obtain the full residency certificate with a 5-year validity period?

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I have been teaching in WA for almost 1.5 years. What are the next steps?

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I'd love to hear recommendations for free resources to obtain clock hours.

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Can you still earn clock hours after January 1st 2026, if your renewal is June 2026?

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My employer provides plenty of equity training for validity of my teacher certificate but not STEM or Abuse clock hours that are necessary. Where is the best place to find these types of clock hours?

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Do we need 15 equity- based school practices clock hours?

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Is there a specific suicide prevention training we have to take? Does the SPS one qualify?

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What advice do you have about securing additional endorsements?

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Do you have any recommendations of additional endorsement programs?

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I am a brand new teacher, so I am looking at what a professional growth plan is.

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What do i need to do to get past the 1.5 year expiration that comes along with my cert? Got it in IL and recip through WA if you need to know.

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Does adding another cert do anything in terms of clock hours needed or anything? I have 2 more I can add I think. Is there anything beneficial to it?

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Are there certain courses/clock hour requirements needed for recertification? Or, is it just that we need 100 clock hours to renew?

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I'm a secondary science teacher and want to know how I can add a CTE endorsement, if I even can.

Is the CTE path completely separate from the general path?

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If I'm secondary teacher, do I need an Elementary Education endorsement to teach Elementary school without an emergency cert?

What about substitute teaching? Can a secondary teacher sub for elementary? Long term?

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I have a lot of clock hours and my certificate expires in June 2026 and I want to make sure that I have the "required" clock hours. Can someone look over my clock hours with me before I submit my application?

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I recertify this year and want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row

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What specific trainings qualify to meet this requirement for license renewal?

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When is the next time to renew my certificate?

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When is the next time to renew my certificate?

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This is my 5th year in this field and I remember renewing my certificate a few years ago. When do I need to renew my certificate and what do I need to do?

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I am going to retire in a couple of years, but was alerted by the state that I needed to become recertified. I am taking this course to learn what I need to do stay certified.

From Maren: If you are about to retire, it will be especially helpful for you to get a lifetime sub cert!

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From our HR/Cert rep: "Since you are an NBCT, you should be able to renew solely with your National Board certificate. When you apply to renew, you should see a question in the application asking if you are applying via NBPTS and you want to check the box indicating yes. It should then provide a spot to upload a copy of your National Board cert and you can bypass the request for clock hours."

Is this true?

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Re-certifying for the first time. Want to make sure I have everything I need.

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OSPI said that my previous elementary cert won't transfer with all my endorsements, even though I earned everything through college. They want me to retake all assessments. Is this true?

From Maren: If you are coming from out of state, you are required to take a Washington state approved content knowledge assessment for each of your out-of-state endorsements. The OSPI cert office would be able to tell you which specific WA endorsements you might qualify for, and which content knowledge assessments you still need to take.

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If I have multiple endorsements does that ad more requirements to renew my cert?

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How do I know if my endorsement requires the 15 STEM hours? I’m art.

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What are the steps to take if you do not renew your cert in time and it has expired?

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My CTE cert expires October 2027 - I need to know how to check my clock hours to make sure I have enough (and the right ones) for renewing my cert. I also want to know if I can schedule an appointment to get help with entering clock hours from 4-5 years ago (they are documented on the triplicate forms we used to submit at the district office). I don't know what to do.

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Once I earn my credential (I’ll be in student teaching this fall), am I required to begin teaching right away, or can I take time off to stay home with my babies for several years?

If I don’t start teaching immediately, will I still need to complete clock hours or recertification requirements during that time? Is it possible to delay those requirements?

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When should you star gathering all the information that is needed for the re-certification. This is my first time.

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Insufficient STEM hours for recertification.

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Insufficient STEM hours for recertification.

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I submitted my recert application to OSPI last month thinking I had all the STEM hours I needed, but I made a mistake. I know my recert will not be approved. Can you tell me what to expect? In the meantime, I am registered for a 15 hour STEM class in March to correct this error.

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Many have already asked questions I have. Plus, reading others' questions alerted me to things I hadn't yet realized I needed (like a growth plan). I am a first year cert and know VERY little about any of this. Thanks for holding this training!

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How do I convert NEA clock hours for OSPI approval?

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Do subs need to renew their certificate every 5 years?

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If I haven't yet done my 1.5 years and received an expiration date on my certification, can I start collecting / documenting clock hours? Or do I need to wait until I cross that 1.5 year threshold and get an expiration date?

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My first year teaching in Washington was 2021-22. I now have my longer-term teaching certification. Not sure how long it lasts. I assume my recertification is soon. I want to do what I need to do to recertify. Thanks!

Also, why can't OSPI transfer PD clock hours from our district ProDev account?

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Question about renewal of Residency teacher certificate. My understanding is that I need to renew certificate 5 years from the date I got it.

But recently I was told that unless I get hired or contracted by school district the 5 year countdown does not start.

Please confirm which one is right?

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Even if my district does not report me to OSPI as a teacher in a public school in WA with at least 1.5 years of full time equivalent experience, can I still reissue my cert? (Not having an expiration date on my certificate even though I have more than 1.5 years experience). Should I contact OSPI directly to reissue?

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I got my WA initial certificate issued on 8/31/2023 and have been teaching in Seattle Public Schools ever since then. The certificate type is Residency Teacher (First Issue). There is no Expiration Date indicated on my certificate but there is a statement on my cert stating that "Valid until you are reported as a teacher in a public school in WA with at least 1.5 years of full time equivalent experience".

Questions:

1. I have been working full-time for 23-24, 24-25, and now 25-26. So two school years and 5 months for full time. Is my certificate still considered valid?

2. If not to Q1, anything I need to do?

3. I will be going on maternity leave in next couple weeks and until the rest of this school year 2025-26. Then I may move to another state (Texas/ DMV area). At this point I am not sure if I will work full time as a certificate teacher after I moved. Should I renew the certification now or after I moved and decided to be a certified teacher again? What will be the pros and cons?

From Maren: First, make sure you get a lifetime sub cert! That does not expire, so it will be valid no matter what options you choose.

I recommend you contact the OSPI cert office right away and explain your situation to find out if you are now eligible to apply for a residency reissuance. That way, hopefully, you can take care of the situation now instead of during your maternity leave. Likely best to apply for your residency reissuance as soon as you are eligible instead of waiting.

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If I recertify early, do clock hours count towards the next recertification count?

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I recently just renewed my certificate, but I’m currently a substitute teacher and I don’t want my certificate to expire. How’s the best way to keep getting enough credits every year that I’m not scrambling at the end of my expiration date.

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When imputing my clock hours to recertify I already have over 100 should I log the other 100 plus hours I have earned through my district ? If I don’t is there any benefit about inputing all of them ?

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Can I renew as soon as I have my 100 hours and it will extend my teaching certificate past my time of renewal ? 

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Can I renew as soon as I have my 100 hours and it will extend my teaching certificate past my time of renewal ? 

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How do you get all your clock hours and credits from WEA and the school district into your OSPI account to renew certification?

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How do you get all your clock hours and credits from WEA and the school district into your OSPI account to renew certification?

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This May will be my third year having a residential certificate. This is my first year teaching general education. I'm curious if I need to renew my certificate and/or apply for a different type of certificate? 

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This May will be my third year having a residential certificate. This is my first year teaching general education. I'm curious if I need to renew my certificate and/or apply for a different type of certificate? 

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Where do we find how many clock hours we already have?

Where do we find what we need to re-cert?

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I got my initial cert back in 1993, promptly moved out of state, and hadn't used it until recently. I had to submit paperwork to change it to a different kind of cert, but now I have no idea what I need to do to keep it in good standing.

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I was surprised when I came back to WA that pd courses I took in other states didn't count for anything. Is the only exception to clock hours if I'm in a degree granting program? (Basically, do misc. college credits and/or continuous learning hours from other states never count here? )

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Heard there were new requirements for professional teaching cert so I wanted to know what is required for renewal.